Remnants of The Empire
by The Mysterious Banana
Summary: After the destruction of the second death star, the Galactic Empire was slowly collapsing, as revolts across the galaxy caused the deaths of billions. Three Imperial Stormtroopers run into each other while attempting to escape their respective enemies. They must now band together and find a planet safe enough to settle and wait for the hunt of the Empire's remnants to blow over.


[Emergency Transmission - Location: Descark]

If anyone is out there, please, send help. It's been nearly six months since our bases were overrun by revolting slaves. They've blown up our factories, our guns are low on ammo, and our food supply is nearly depleted. We haven't gotten any words from the higher ups for months. Also, if you receive this transmission, our communications are long down, so please return with an explanation of what the hell is going on out there! Why hasn't there been any reinforcements? Why are all the admirals on hold? This is Sergeant Senior Caesar, of the Imperial Navy's Flight Branch, signing out.

[End of Transmission]

/0/

[Emergency Transmission - Location: Expansion Region]

Contacting all nearby fleets! Our Star Destroyer has been blown too dust by a horde of rebel bombers! My squadron is wiped, enemies are on my trail and I'm in a Tie Bomber! Personally, I think I can take them all, but just in case, I'm sending a request for reinforcement! And better arrive quickly before I take out this entire fleet by myself or die trying! Corporal Petra, of the Imperial Navy's Flight Branch, signing out!

[End of Transmission]

/0/

The sound of blaster fire hissed across the fields of countless worlds, accompanied with the enraged roars of the oppressed and enslaved, crying for freedom. Once word of the destruction of the Death Star and the death of the Emperor spread, civil wars and revolts erupted across the galaxy. With the Moffs and Admirals in power struggles, fighting to see who should possess ultimate authority now that their only higher up has perished. Within the chaos and infighting, planets formerly occupied by the empire were motivated by their moment of weakness, and sought out to overthrow the tyranny that had oppressed them for countless eons.

The Rebel Alliance, now known as the New Republic, had it just as bad, as countless medical frigates were sent, trying to calm warring worlds and planets where the empire have long fled from, attempting to establish themselves and restore the galaxy to it's former glory, only to be rejected and seen by some as another Galactic Empire, trying to take the place of the previous one.

Within this chaos, somewhere within the southern region of the galaxy lies one of the last, fully operational, stable and coordinated fleets within the empire. Although, a fleet would be too strong a word to describe them, a squadron of two imperial class star destroyers lead by self promoted General Invel, who, as far as everyone on the two capital ships know, is the last High ranking imperial general who hasn't gone mad with power, and who still follows the traditional rules and laws imposed by the late emperor.

Although a cunning strategist, the general has suffered many casualties during his numerous rescue missions, trying everything he can to scramble together those still loyal to the empire he believed in, and who hasn't strayed from their paths to follow the likes of the greed filled admirals, who are all caught in skirmishes and wars with their assembled armadas across the galaxy. And a good portion of those times, as much as he tries to sugarcoat it, they lose more men than they save. Scrolling through the control board, while taking a sip out of his cup, the old, blond haired general rubbed his forehead, trying to stay awake, when the sound of an opening door shot him awake.

"Still on the lookout for distress signals General?" asked the voice of a young man.

"Corporal! What are you doing here?" Asked the general in shock, "The door would never have opened with your keycard!"

"I know." Chuckled the private, "So I pick-pocketed one of my higher ups at the food court while he wasn't looking."

"Where the hell is my keycard!?" Yelled a distant voice, followed by a mechanical voice saying [Access denied].

The general gave him a look of disapproval, shaking his head.

"Please tell me what you came here for before I demote you to ship deck cleaner!" Invel grunted in a irritable tone.

"You tell me! I saw you enter this room last _week_!" Explained the corporal, "There isn't even a refresher (bathroom) in here! People on board were beginning to wonder if you died in here or not."

"If they thought I was dead, they could have come in here themselves and checked." Replied the General, stretching himself, "Besides, what if we miss a super important transmission? What if there were others out there that believed in the empire? What if we weren't alone? What if..."

The general stopped himself for a second, sitting back down and giving himself a slap across the face, mumbling some words to himself.

"What if there was another imperial fleet out there whose help we can use?" He said in a much calmer, more professional manner.

The Corporal sighed at what he considered a pitiful sight.

"Don't bother putting up the professional act, we all know that deep down, you too are desperate and scared." He sighed, "Even if your demeanor doesn't show it, your actions sure do. No calm person would ever be this hellbent on finding stragglers of the empire, if there is any left at all."

Invel sighed at his subordinates attempt to cheer him up.

"It's not about me corporal, though I appreciate your concern." Said Invel, "It's about the well being of this crew. As of now, we have 50 000 men left. That alone is barely an army. The only reason why we made it this far is because these men, whether it's the soldiers or the pilots, they all believe in me. If I show weakness, who else do they have to trust?"

Getting up from his chair, he stared out the ship's window, gazing out into the distant stars.

"These men may have come from different regions of the galaxy, been through the hardest of times, and some even giving their life to this mighty empire. Yet here they stand, united by one thing: Hope." He said in a inspiring sort of way, then turning back to his corporal, "I represent that hope. If that hope is lost, then it will all be over."

"Pushing yourself this far will only get you killed." Replied the corporal.

"You're 100 years too early to give me a lecture rookie." Said Invel, "Now, I think it's about time you got back to your post, as well as return your stolen keycard to it's rightful owner."

As the corporal exited, as well as giving the keycard he stole back to his superior, who was still banging on his personal locker, he made it back to his personal sleeping quarters, one he shared with three other men.

"So he didn't die?" Asked one of his roommates.

"Surprisingly not Russ." Replied the corporal.

This was Senior Lieutenant Russ, ID Number: DD-435, formerly a starfighter pilot for the empire until a forced retirement after losing both arms when his tie bomber was shot down. He was rescued two weeks ago when his homeworld's natives revolted and ravaged the capital city, dragging men from the empire to the streets for public executions. He was rescued along with a dozen other stormtroopers by Invel after sending a distress signal, which was ironically what the revolting people used to track them down, turning a simple rescue mission into a imperial bloodbath.

While he didn't have the most fit looking body, his wisdom acquired through experience is just what the fleet needed, as he was assigned to instruct the rowdier refugees.

"Well that's a relief." Said a third voice, that of a woman this time, coming from the top bunk.

"Oh, you're awake Sasha." Said the corporal.

"I've BEEN awake for hours. What's the big holdup? It's been nearly a weeks since we've been flying on this rust bucket and still, nothing's happened." Grunted the woman.

Sasha, ID Number: SJ-591 was also a corporal, one who was rescued only 2 weeks ago. Back in her squadron, she gained a trigger happy reputation. Always charging into battle and somehow coming back unscathed. Unlike the others, she left her homeworld long before the collapse of the empire happened, as the planet's lush plant life had been polluted due to illegal exploitation of natural resources.

"It's probably for the better." He replied.

"Of course you'd say that." Sasha turned to him, "You're the kind of guy who would abandon his men during a battle to chase a Flutzfly."

"A what?" Asked the man.

"Zigs isn't from your homeworld Sasha, don't assume everyone here knows what a Flutzfly is." Said Russ.

Of course, our corporal in question, the one who spoke with the general, Corporal Zigs, ID Number: MD-256, is probably as wild a wildcard can be. Smuggling, Pickpocket, Lock-picking, hot-wiring, knitting, cooking. As long as the skill has nothing to do with combat, he probably has it. As a matter of fact, he forged is identity when signing up for the empire, and look where that got him.

"Whatever." She grunted.

"You know, those who seek danger tend to be the first ones dead on the battlefield Sasha." Said a fourth voice.

That voice belonged to the last member of the squadron, junior Lieutenant Zeke, ID Number: HX-312. His over analytical mind and his tendency to always think ahead is exactly what it took for him to sneak out of his planet when the empire collapsed. As a matter of fact, he found the fleet, instead of vice versa.

"So then what do we do?" Asked Sasha.

"Even soldiers are allowed their own free time." Explained Russ, "I'll be spending it to train Zigs in piloting a Tie Fighter, the guy really seems to have taken an interest in that domain."

"And I'll help." Added Zeke, "I'm actually part of the imperial navy. Wanna come Sasha?"

Sasha rolled her eyes.

"We'll do some battle simulation training afterwards if you want." Added Zigs.

The girl sighed.

"Fine." She mumbled, getting off the top of the bunk bed, "I mean, it's not like I have anything better to do. At this point, I wish we were attacked mid training."

However, as the squad of four made their way to the ships, the radars on the star destroyers rang out. The outlines of what seemed to be a huge fleet of star destroyers was seen, but they seemed far from friendly.

/0/

Descark, formerly a Factory planet for Imperial Star-Fighters, now a slowly deteriorating fortress, barely holding against attacks from the planet's natives. Despite slaves having taken control of most cities and bases that were once occupied by the Empire, they still we'rent satisfied until they erased the last trace of the empire from their planet. Having taken Imperial weapons as well, they might seem able to pull it off.

As the walls of the factory was meet with constant blaster fire, the remaining stormtroopers were forced into a defensive position. Thankfully, some factory droids were still operational, very few, but still some, as TIE fighters were slowly being built one by one. Of course, with the factory surrounded by revolting slaves armed with E-11 blaster rifles, flying out one ship at a time meant suicide, as it will be immediately shot down. For the time being, all the survivors could do is wait until there is enough TIE Fighters for everyone and fly out all at once. For the time being, all they can do is hold off the constant waves of troops charging at their doors.

A loud explosion was heard, as several stormtroopers fell over from the shockwave.

"What was that?" Yelled a man aged in his late fifties.

"Sergeant! It's the Descarkians! They've run a TIE Fighter into our autocannons." Responded one of the stormtroopers, running by, out of breath.

"Impossible! These filthy snout nosed rats spent most of their lives chained and working away in the mines! How could they have figured out how to get those star-fighters off the ground?"

"It seems we've underestimated their intelligence sir! They're learning!" Explained the stormtrooper.

Back outside, a dozen stormtroopers, all perched on top of the 75 feet walls that guarded the entrance to the factory, rained down a volley of blaster fire, utilizing the installed turrets to their advantage, as much more intense return volley kept their heads down.

Beneath the wall lies a beige carpet of Descarkians, a humanoid rodent race with horned snouts and wide ears, which make up for their low vision, wearing torn beige cloaks as clothing, firing back from within their dug up trenches. A brief stop happened from the top of the walls, as the revolting slaves took this as an advantage to advance.

"What's going on Soldier? Keep firing!" Yelled one of the troopers.

"I can't! The darn gun's overheated!" Replied the other, punching the mounted spark shooting turret, "We've been firing it for 2 hours straight!"

"Then pick up your blasters! We can't let these rats over this- Waaaaaarrghhh!"

The stormtrooper's sentence was cut short as a blaster bolt pierced his worn out helmet like an egg, leaving a charred hole in the temple region. This was followed by the roar of blasters, piercing the stormtroopers at the wall.

"They've climbed the walls! We're breached!" Yelled the stormtroopers as they were slowly mowed down by the overwhelming number of Descarkians. As a handful of them ducked behind crates and hid behind pipes, they proceeded to demonstrate their superior military training, as the initial frontal rush of the raging enslaved natives were halted by a series of well-placed shots.

The rodents fired back, of course, but for every fallen stormtrooper, 10 Descarkians were killed.

"Yeah! Go to hell you sewer rats!" Laughed one of the stormtroopers, as he slowly ducked out of cover, picking up a metal plate to use as shield, as he slowly advanced towards enemy lines.

"What are you doing RT-224? Get back here!" Called out one of his brethren.

"For the empire!" RT-224 shouted, ignoring the other's calls, as his reckless charge seemed to be enough to scare away most of the revolting slaves.

"Look! The Descarkians are retreating!" Said one of the stromtroopers.

"They're too afraid to push any further! Cement that fear into their heads men!" Shouted another, red stripe armored trooper, "Push forward!"

As the stormtroopers ducked out of cover, their united push was enough to repel the rodent natives. Eventually, blaster bolts coming from enemy side completely ceased, as the Descarkians entered full retreat mode. Some dropping the blasters, while others sheathing it, as they bared their razor sharp claws and dug into the wall, climbing up to escape the stormtroopers.

"You're not going anywhere you filthy pests!" Yelled the before mentioned RT-224, tossing a thermal detonator at a large group of them, as a blast quickly sent over thirty escaping revolutionaries flying off the wall, splattering onto the hard metal pavement, letting out one last, dying shriek. the strormtrooper then ran up the the ones that were still twitching, finishing them off one by one with his sidearm pistol, until a hand full of fellow soldiers ran in to hold him back, "Die! Die! Die! Die!"

"Calm down soldier! Look at me!" Yelled one of the stormtroopers, removing his helmet, "It's over..."

As RT-224's helmet was removed, the others saw the look on his face; scared, angered, and yet still smiling. He really was at the edge of his sanity. Breaking free from the other's hold, the trooper looked around, staring at the carnage around him. At around fifteen feet away, he saw them, one, two, four dead stormtroopers, all with a light blue insignia on the side of their helmets.

Collapsing on all fours, the other troopers got out of the way, as the man slowly crawled to the fallen soldiers.

"We were supposed to make it out of here together..." He uttered, his face twisting into despair, "Bough, Rikter, Crash..."

As he approached the closest one of the bunch, he slowly removed the dead soldier's helmet, revealing the lifeless husk of a red haired girl, aged in her 20s.

"Fox..." He clenched onto the dead trooper, burying his face into her chest, as a muffled cry can be heard from his subordinates.

"R...Fangs..." One of the other troopers called out, using his real name instead of his code.

The mentioned soldier slowly put down the body of his comrade, as he looked at his right hand to find he his gun was still in his hand.

"Fangs don't-"

The sound of a blaster pistol resonated throughout the battered compound, as Fang's lifeless body collapsed next to his squadron, with a readied smile drawn on his face.

"He served this empire for over 15 years." One of the troopers muttered, "He even promised to take care of the new girl and protect her with his life."

"Damn it! Out of everyone here, why did he have to go!?" Yelled another, punching a wall in anger.

Trying his best to ignored the grief going through everyone, the group lieutenant looked around.

"How many... did we lose?" Asked the Sergeant.

"14 sir, we lost 14 brave men." Replied one of the stormtroopers.

"And how many of us... are left?" He asked again.

"Around 70 sir, we lose about 2 or 3 every time these rats attack us. But this... This is too much..." Replied the same stormtrooper.

"They've dug into our walls, and chewed up the turret's circuits. This wall's done for." Said another stormtrooper, coming down from the top of the wall, "If these bastards attack one or two more time, I don't think we will make it."

"I heard a few of them have figured out how to fly the TIE Fighters as well." Added a fourth one that came in, "If this evacuation set up doesn't complete itself soon, we'll all be dead."

Hearing this, the sergeant looked back towards the main compound building.

"How many TIE Fighters left until we have enough to evacuate everyone?"

"13 sir, if we evacuate now..."

"Then 13 of us will remain..." Finished the sergeant.

A moment of silence followed.

"I will volunteer to stay." Said one of the soldiers.

"So will I!"

"And We will too!"

"Enough!" The sergeant called out, "Caesar is not the kind of person who will leave his men behind. I tried to convince several times, but from the looks of it, to him, it's either we all go down or none of us will."

"He's right." Another voice added, as the mentioned person showed up at the scene.

"Senior Sergeant Caesar!" The others bowed immediately.

"We produce around 5 to 6 TIE Fighters everyday, we only need to last two more days until we can all escape." Reassured Caesar.

"We don't have two days." Said one of the stormtroopers, "These rats will attack us every 12 hours or so, and we just lost our wall. For all we know the enemy could strike us at any moment."

Hearing this, Caesar frowned, running his eyes, trying to think of something.

"We are stormtroopers sir, our purpose is to be the empire's weapon. Our fates on the battlefield were sealed the day we dawned on our helmets. Please sir, let us stay behind, it's our only choice."

"We aren't object private!" Exclaimed Caesar, "We are people from across the galaxy! Our hearts beat as one, but our minds are our own. We have different strengths, different weaknesses, and different goals. Never, and I repeat, Never see yourselves as the same person. We are all worth something, and that reason alone is enough for you to live."

Suddenly, a low octane hump was heard, as one by one, black masses emerged from the back end of the compound.

"Our TIE Fighters?! But how!?" Asked Caesar.

"This is Sergeant Gideon! What's going on over ground control!?" The Sergeant immediately asked, calling the two dozen stormtroopers left to watch over the TIE Fighters.

"Sorry sir, but we simply can't wait any longer." Replied a slightly guilty voice.

"This is mutiny private! Get back here now!" Yelled sergeant Gideon.

"No can do sir, this is the last time we will be seeing each other, goodbye." Replied the escaping stormtroopers.

"God Damnit!"

Suddenly, a distant shot came in, sniping one of the TIE Fighters out of the air.

"What was that?!" Exclaimed some of the remaining stormtroopers.

"It can't be..." Uttered Caesar, "Our anti-air artillery... They're operating our anti air artillery?"

A few miles away from the camp, rows of tall cannons pointed at the sky stationed by the barren canyon, pointing at the escaping shuttles and shotting them down one at a time. While this was happening, one Descarkian, much larger than the other ones, with light blue skin as opposed to the dark brown one of the typical rodent race, stood up from a throne covered in the helmets of stormtroopers.

"The white devils are fleeing, shoot them down and attack the stragglers." The Leader mumbled in the race's incomprehensible dialect.

"Very well sir..." Replied a hunchback Descarkian, as it ran up to the corner of the cliff, sounding the horn.

Soon, from below the canyon, where the walls were riddled in man sized holes, came crawling out thousands of native rodent creatures, as they ran by several rows of racks where the imperial blasters hung, arming themselves and charging at the bases on all fours.

"Sir! The a massive horde of Descarkians are seen charging towards us, there must be at least half a million of them." Yelled one of the troopers.

"How long until they reach us!?" Exclaimed Caesar."

"At the speed they're going, they'll be here in forty, no, thirty minutes!" Yelled the stormtrooper.

Caesar looked back up into the sky, not a single TIE Fighter in sight.

"They were waiting for us to fly..." The senior sergeant uttered, dropping to his knees, they were waiting for this..."

Just then, a hand was felt on his shoulder.

"Sir... Those artillery cannons tend to overheat if not handled properly, and I doubt these rodents are doing so. We still have about 35 or so TIE Fighters, if we make a run for it, there's a chance a handful of us will make it."

"But..."

"Please sir." Said one of the stormtroopers, followed by a dozen more backing him up, "We are ready to die, so please, just go. Don't let the sacrifice of Fang, Fox, Bough, Rikter, Crash and hundreds of other brave soldiers be in vain."

Looking back at the remaining men, all rallied behind him, giving him a salute, Caesar bit his lips.

"Its was an honor having you serve under me!" He cried out.

"And it was an honor serving you, Sergeant." Replied the stormtroopers, giving him a salute.

As the remaining loyals of the empire took to the skies on their TIE Fighters, the 13 remaining stormtroopers turned back and faced the front gate.

"So, how many of these filthy rodents do you plan on killing before biting the dust?" asked one soldier to another.

"About a hundred, you?"

"I'll raise you with two hundred!"

"I'll raise you both with a thousand, come on!" Yelled the one in front as the gate caved in, and the Revolutionaries charged at the remaining stormtroopers, "For empire!"

The front trooper threw his bag at the horde as soon as the gates came down, as it split open from the bottom, leaking out several dozens of activated thermal detonators, causing a huge explosion at the front gate and causing a huge dust cloud to rise. the others ran in, two of them holding a massive chaingun blaster, mowing into the enemy lines.

The dust clogged the rodent's noses, and the sound of thermal detonation still ringing in their ears cause the front runners to lose what good sense they had, and fired blindly, all missing the last few troopers. Nearly two two hundred fell before he dust could settle. While this happened, one of the trooper retreated to one of the numerous weapon crates, pulling our a missile launcher, firing at the top of the gate.

An explosion cause the top of the gate to collapse, as it fell on the invading force, squashing the front line. However, blasters shot wrung out, killing three stormtroopers, as the Descarkians climbed over the Debris, as well as above the walls, raining down fire on them. Firing back, a few rodents were shot down, but the numbers of the storm troopers were also dwindling. 10 troopers left... 9 ...8

Retreating into the middle of the compound, one of the stormtroopers tossed a detonator onto the water tower, collapsing it onto a ball of Descarkians. That soldier was shot shortly after. 7 remaining.

One found himself on the high ground, as he cut a rope, letting a bundle of gas canisters roll free, spreading into the crowd. He was able to shoot five canisters, and blow up at least 2 or 3 hundred before taking a blaster bolt through the skull. 6 remaining.

Two were mowed down as they were running away, 4 remained.

After even his sidearm ran out of ammo, one of the stormtroopers, covered in blood and gunk jumped from the mountain of Rodent alien corpses he stood on, landing in the middle of a Descarkian crowd, and activated his last thermal detonator. 3 remained.

One was caught in an alley way, as he turned to face a large crowd of Rodent aliens. This scene reminded him of the firing squad execution, ones they would perform on revolting Descarkians who went out of line. Guess this death did him justice. 2 remained.

One had gotten his hands on a speeder, as he mowed down several dozens of rodents, while his sidearm took out the ones lunging at him. However, one of the descarkians he ran over survived, and latched onto the speeder. Then a second one latched onto the first, then a third one, then a fourth. Eventually, the center of balance was being perturbed, as the vehicle swerved out of control, crashing into another crowd and setting itself ablaze. The driver exited the flaming wreckage, duel-wielding repeater rifles, as he opted to mow down as many as possible. In the end, he did the impossible, and died to the explosion of his own speeder instead of being shot down or ripped apart by the raging horde. 1 remained.

The last stormtrooper, disarmed and exhausted, stumbled into the main factory, as he his foggy vision made out one of the rodent aliens to look different from the other.

"I assume you're these weasel's leader huh?"

The Descarkian leader replied with a hiss.

"I'll take that as a yes..." He uttered, as he clenched his fist.

The rodent leader lunged in, it's claws tearing open the stormtrooper's chestplate in the blink of an eye.

"I guess you wanted the satisfaction of the last kill huh?" Uttered the stormtrooper, as his felt his chest bleed, "Well just try it punk!"

While it didn't seem like the rodent understood him, it did lunge in once more, grabbing him by the helmet, trying to lift him up in the air. However, the helmet came off, as the stormtrooper sacrificed it to land a devastating blow to the leader's chest. The Descarkian leader let out a bloodcurdling scream, as the stormtrooper started to punch him immediately.

The Leader retaliated, biting him in the shoulder, but the stormtrooper returned the favor by picking up a nearby pipe and knocking off it's front tooth. He then proceeded to beat the leader with said pipe until it was bent and dented, then pulled the knocked off fang from his shoulder, repeatingly stabbing the rat until it died.

"This... was for... Fang..." Uttered the stormtrooper, as it saw the other Descarkians looking at him with fear and disgust.

Limping towards the factory control panel, the stormtrooper gave the rats one last look, until he pressed a red button, blowing the entire factory sky high. 0 stormtroopers remained.

Meanwhile, one after another, the TIE Fighters were shot down. they were only moments away from orbit.

"Now many of us are there left?" Asked Caesar.

"4 sir..." Replied Sergeant Gideon, in a sad tone.

A loud explosion was heard.

"3..."

Silence came from Caesar's feed.

"I-I'm sorry Sergeant." Said Gideon.

"Don't be... I'm fully responsible for this... This is my fault alone."

"Sir... there's something appearing on radar..." Said the third pilot.

Looking at their feed, their jaws dropped.

"Descarkians!? Not possible!" Yelled Caesar.

A squadron of seven chased them down. Just then, one ran into another, blowing them both up.

"They have no formation sir! I think we can still make it if we..."

One of the TIE Fighters shot.

"I'm hit! I'm hi..."

The feed was cut.

"Look like they figured out where the trigger is." Said Gideon.

"Gideon, run! I'll hold them off!" Exclaimed Caesar.

"No sir! I will hold them off! You are too important of a man to lose!" Exclaimed Gideon, "I heard rumors that there might still be a fleet somewhere, composed of thousands of people who still believe in the cause of the galactic empire! You must make it to them!"

"I won't leave you behind!" Yelled Caesar.

"I'll be fine Caesar! You are what's important! Find this fleet! you are our last hope Sergeant Caesar!" Exclaimed Gideon, "Good luck."

"Gideon!"

Just like that, the TIE Fighter pilot broke formation, flying into the enemy fire. Clenching his fists, Caesar stepped onto his thruster pedals, full speed. As Descark became smaller and smaller, Caesar banged his hand on the wheel, cursing at himself. Just then, he receptor started to blink. There was a signal, no, two signals. There was still hope.

_"everyone... your deaths will not be in vain!"_ He thought, flying towards the signals.

**_To Be Continued..._**


End file.
